Gen 8:1-16 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
Noah entered the ark on the tenth day of the second month, and the floodwaters began seven days later, “in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month.” (Genesis 7:11) This would have been in October. When God delivered Israel from their bondage in Egypt, God changed their recognition of the beginning of the new year to April. This is considered an ecclesiastical recognition of the calendar, while the civil year began in September. The rains began on October 17th, and continued for forty days straight. With the great fountains of the deep opening, and the torrential rains falling from the skies, the entire earth was covered with the waters of the flood. These waters continued to cover the earth for the forty days, and began receding until the end of 150 days. With the waters receding, the ark eventually settled on dry land upon the mountains of Ararat “in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month,” or approximately January 17th. The waters continued to decrease until “the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.” Forty days later, “Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made....” Somewhere around August 10th, Noah opened the window in the top of the ark “and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.” After the sending forth a dove three times over a period of two weeks, after the dove did not return to him, Noah removed the covering of the ark and beheld that “the face of the ground was dry.” Just as God had called Noah and his family into the ark, He instructed them to, “Go forth, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy son’s wives with thee.” Therefore, on October 27, Noah and his family left the ark. The entire time on the ark was approximately 1 year and 17 days.
Could life have been sustained for over one year on the ark? And that not just for Noah and the seven other humans onboard, but also for all the animals that God had sent to be spared the flood? Is it humanly possible to achieve such a thing as this? Probably not! Most likely not! But we are not speaking of a human achievement. When the Virgin Mary questioned her ability to give birth to the Christ child, the answer was clear; “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) This was not a feat of human ingenuity. It was a miracle performed by the Almighty Creator. Beloved, God could have kept all alive on the ark for an indefinite period of time had that been His plan. He fed Israel for 40 years in a barren wasteland. He has sustained life on this planet since the creation. The relatively short span on the ark was nothing for Him. HAVE FAITH IN GOD!
The problem with most of humanity today is simply not believing in God. The Bible is filled with the accounts of the miraculous deeds of Almighty God, but many refuse to believe the Bible, because they refuse to believe in God. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (Psalms 14:1) Just keep believing in God, and keep on believing God’s Word, regardless of the unbelief in the world around you. Someday beloved, the Lord will come for His own. When that day comes, many will be left outside the perimeter of God’s amazing grace, not able to gain an entrance. Just as the lost in Noah’s day, once the door of the ark was closed, their opportunity of salvation was past. Continue to be considered a fool for believing God and His Word, for someday it will be revealed that all who place faith in Jesus Christ are saved unto the uttermost. Amen!
Pastor Steve Smith
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